User Reviews

Bottle pour at the BevMo Holiday Beerfest held at Golden Road Brewing in Los Angeles, CA.

2012 vintage.

Pours a clear light orange with a foamy bone colored head that settles to a film on top of the beer. Small dots of lace slowly drip into the remaining beer on the drink down. Smell is of malt, grain, spices, and yeast. Taste is much the same with a mild yeast bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a good level of carbonation with a crisp mouthfeel. Overall, this is a pretty good beer that is actually pretty nice for a Blue Moon beer.

Clear golden color in the tall Stella glass. The carbonation doesn't seem to hold up so well. Starts out with just a hint of foam, and subsequent pours are virtually flat.

Fruity like mango nectar. The drying flavor becomes fairly pronounced, but it doesn't seem yeasty otherwise. With the meagre carbonation it emphasizes the apple cider taste. Altogether, this seems kind of sweet and a little cloying. A whisper of bitterness. I tried to like this, but there is not much to like, especially for 11 bucks.

From the 22 oz bottle bought at Coit Liquor in San Francisco. 2012 vintage.

Figured I'd share a bottle o' this with VDubb during this visit, if for no other reason than to keep expanding his sense of how much of a ticker I am. This stuff pours a mostly clear golden straw topped by a half-finger at best of off-white foam that dies away almost immediately, no trace left behind. The nose comprises light lemon rind, white wine (very close to some oaked chardonnay), light funky wheat, and a glance of honey. The taste brings in more of the same, with the grapes trying to assert themselves in vain over a din of unsupportive citrus and wheat. It almost comes together, but falls apart at the end, like busy, unorganized people unable to get together for dinner. The body is a light medium, with a light moderate carbonation and a sorta/kinda drying finish. Overall, a nice attempt at a beer/wine hybrid thingy, but one that just comes across as half-hearted.

I was simply intrigued when I saw this recently at one of the many bottle shops now in my area. I know the back story and I really do not care at this point. As long as it tastes good, I do not care who brewed it.

From the bottle: "From our Reserve Collection comes our limited-edition Vintage Blonde Ale. Winning several medals, including Gold at the 2010 Great American Beer Festival, it's crafted with Chardonnay grape juice and all-wheat grain for a crisp, dry taste. Cellar-aged, this work of art is ready to enjoy now or can be set aside for the right moment."

I'm ready now! I have a champagne flute from the 1998 Seabee Ball, held on Diego Garcia while I was the POIC of the Honor Guard and this seemed an appropriate beer for this glass. I got a finger of fizzy, foamy, bone-white head with limited retention from my pour. Color was a gorgeous golden-yellow with NE-quality clarity. The effervescence really looked like champagne in the glass. Nose was quite fruity, not entirely vinous as the label had led me to expect, but instead, more like chewing gum, which is not a bad thing, given their use of wheat. Mouthfeel was medium and the flavor was very much of mixed fruit, very tasty and not cloying or over-the-top. Finish was actually quite dry and refreshing. This would be excellent during the summer, maybe in a picnic basket with a friend to share it with.

T - Taste is actually better, without the cloying sugary sweetness and more actual vinous grape flavor. Wheat and yeast round things out. Tastes like a blend of malt liquor and wheat ale.

M - Medium body, pleasant active carbonation, and a fairly well-hidden 8.5% ABV, with only mild heat at the back end.

D - It goes down pretty easy, but I'd rather have a regular Blue Moon or a Stack high-gravity lager if I'm going macro. There are a zillion better options for the price, so I'm not sure what market they're attempting to serve here.

The beer pours a very clear yellow color with a white head. The aroma is full of wheat notes, with a lot of white wine notes and a hint of pepper. The flavor is very similar. I get a lot of chardonnay notes in the flavor - mainly made up of grapes, apples and a hint of cream. I also get some nice wheat notes. Thin to medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation. Somewhat surprisingly, I actually really liked this beer. Definitely the best Blue Moon beer I have tried.

Light golden colour, 2 finger head of foam, loads of bubbles and lacing.

It has kind of a yeasty smell but actually smells more like an American Adjunct Lager. I'm sniffing hard and long to try to draw out some of this grape Chardonnay that is mentioned on the label but I can't seem to get any.

Well, there's grape juice in the taste but it is not very tasty. The malt profile is weak, all of the flavours, both of them are weak. The only "strong" point of this beer is the alcohol. Every bit of the 8.5 is present and accounted for. Wow, I'm glad I didn't have to pay for this and I'm going to recommend that the store not carry it lest people looking to try something "craft" think this is typical.

This is just boring as hell and brings nothing to the table for the style it is under; I'm not going to finish the bottle.

Aromas begin with a ton of wheat malt and complementary biscuity pale malt. As it warms you get the more desirable aromas of phenolic Belgian yeast and lesser vinous white grapes.

The tastes follow the nose for me with generous amounts of lightly sour wheat malt and pale/biscuity complementary malts. Belgian yeast esters and a background flavor of the light vinous white grapes. A little sweat in the finish.

The mouthfeel is medium bodied with adequate enough carbonation. Finish is a little sweet with the ABV only noticeable with the slightly heavier mouthfeel compared to other ales of this style. I am guessing lesser candy sugar and more malt was used to increase the ABV compared to the way most true Belgian ales are brewed.

Overall, this was an average Blonde Ale at best and I only bought it for my mother as a present to here for sitting in line at the Weyerbacher Idiot's Drool release. (She is a fan or the original Blue Moon, so I said why not.) It is drinkable but forgettable and not worth revisiting for me. For the price it is definitely not recommended.

750 ml capped bottle poured into a Vintage Blonde Ale tulip.
8.5% ABV, 11913 on the shoulder of the bottle in yellow, 2012.

A - Extremely effervescent, Blue Moon Vintage Blond Ale pours a gorgeous golden honey color with fantastic clarity, but the beer is almost completely still. A soda-like fleeting white head disappears so quickly, I barely have a moment to capture it on camera, leaving no lace on the glass and barely a trace of bubbles around the perimeter. Blink and you could miss it's entire existence. This causes a major problem...

S - A musty, earthy, oak-like funk comes fourth first, but is quickly pushed aside by some of the bigger, cloyingly sweet aromas of the Chardonnay grape juices used in this beer. I don't find any yeast characteristics coming fourth, and the background smells like a simple pale and pilsner malt base. The most frustrating part of the aroma, though, is the fact that there's absolutely no head to retain the volatile, escaping compounds making it damn near impossible to smell!

T - Sweet pilsner malt is smooth and relentless, carrying through the whole beer with lingering sugar on the tongue. Chardonnay grape juice impacts the beer in two ways; further adding sweetness as well as a juice concentrate-like flavor that I find cyclical and a bit overused. Light buttered popcorn notes enter on the finish as it warms up.

Unfortunately, this beer is missing depth beyond the grape sweetness, lacking in wheat components, but mainly devoid of any yeast characteristics that would (greatly) serve to both balance the sweetness and keep it from being overly redundant.

M - While massively effervescent, a lot of the carbonation escapes solution leaving it with a pleasant spritzy tickle on the tongue. A touch slick-feeling, this medium-bodied beer lingers with a lip-smacking sweetness that's borderline cloying and reminiscent of honey. Vintage Blonde's lack of solvent alcohol (especially for 8.5%) and somewhat clean finish in mouthfeel is by far the high point of this beer.

O - Vintage Blonde Ale from Blue Moon it's a beer worth bringing to your wine-o friend's house who claims to hate beer. From the wine-like packaging to the combination of sweet pilsner malt and Chardonnay grape juice, it has a wine like feel to it, even if it's more akin to a wine-cooler.

This might be some sort of converting point for them (provided they're not the Wine Spectator-type), but it's lack of yeast components, fleeting head and subsequent vaporization of the aroma, and revolving sweetness make it a beer that I have no real interesting in drinking again.

S: Kind of a buttery light malt tone, with basil, a little lemon citrus, and a little lavender.

T: Light malt with a little lemon citrus, but a heavy flavor of grape. A malty champagne might be the best way to describe it.

M: Light ant crisp. Sweetness is a a little cloying.

D: Light body enables a power-thru.

Atmosphere is okay. Pretty unimpressive and generic appearance. Nose is full, with some sweet and spicy components. Light body, and a little too sweet. Not horribly done, just the sort of thing that a little is enough. Overall, this is a decent quaff.

Poured this brew into a Duvel tulip glass. Makes a good appearance, with a two finger thick head, and a golden clear body. The head dissipates quickly, but the bubbly presence left behind reminds me of champagne.

The aroma is dry and arid. Some grape skin qualities, with candied sugar, some honey, and maybe hints of orange rind.

In the taste, I'm getting the grape qualities, some honey, and other fruity notes.

Feels dry to the palate at first, but leaves well quenched.

Overall I'm surprised at this product. Not bad for one of the big three to put together.

I think it's sometimes tough to review beers like this because there's a tendency to roll your eyes at the maker being Blue Moon (or more specifically, Coors). However, we need to review the beer for what it is, fairly, as if it was produced by a craft brewery. So here goes.

Smell is very, very reminiscent of a white wine, which isn't very surprising, but it's actually pretty strong and sweet. I know chardonney tends to be a bit drier than many whites, but this has a real sweet white grape juice aroma going. I poured it into my glass...not too surprisingly, it's bright golden. Head fizzes away almost immediately. So that part isn't so hot.

Now for the taste. Carbonation is pretty average, but not too high for a beer that's supposed to be a Belgian style. Really, it's all semi-sweet white grape juice and notes of apple to me. I also get a bit of yeast on the finish, but that's about it. Honestly, it feels to me as if I'm drinking a decent, rather sweet white wine with carbonation. So if that's what they were going for, I'd say it's fine. As a beer?? Not as much, and not for the price tag.

So I think this "beer" doesn't quite hold up on its merits....not because of who makes it, but because it really just fails to be very distinctive or complex.

Poured into a large brandy snifter. The cap comes off with a loud, sparkling wine cork pop. The beer pours golden with a quickly dissipating white head. There is an abundant amount of carbonation present as evident by the prolific tiny bubbles rising from the bottom of the glass and side of the glass. The smell is of lemon and Chardonnay grapes. There is some malt aroma, but the smells is largely reminiscent of white wine. The flavor of this beer betrays strong wine characteristics. The Chardonnay grapes come through strongly in the flavor along with citrus and some malt backbone. The body is light to medium with abundant carbonation. The finish is crisp and dry. The drinkability is high. Overall, this is a very good beer that crosses over somewhat into sparkling wine territory with the taste profile and carbonation. It is definitely worth trying if you come across this one.

A- Poured into an oversized wine glass... Starts with a weak white head that disappears quickly. Beer is a crisp straw color with light activity. It could almost be mistaken for a glass of wine if it weren't for the light flow of bubbles

S- Not overly pungent... Light dry wine nose

T- Starts with a hint of Belgian sweetness before being accompanied by a nice dry white wine flavor

M- Light bodied with light carbonation

O- I enjoyed this... The presentation in the appearance and the nose were a bit lacking, but all in all the flavor was pretty good and refreshing

Poured a light golden hue with a small but concentrated head.
No question about citrus in this nose. Lemons were coming out of the glass.
The first taste was crisp and so refreshing. The lemon came through even more, but not pronounced like a Shandy. The overall mouthful was pretty full. I did detect some sweetness, but just to make it refreshing.
A nice summer brew